Hamill remains positive after a third successive runner-up finish

VIVIAN Hamill enjoyed an impressive run at the opening round of the BTRDA Rally Championship, the 47th Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria where, for the third event in a row, he finished second overall.

Having started his season with a second placed finish behind Jordan and Paul Hone at the Killarney Stages before being pipped to victory on the final stage of the Samsonas Fivemiletown Rally by Niall McGonigle, Ballygawley’s Hamill, who had Lorcan Moore on the notes in his R5 Volkswagen Polo Gti, had to settle for the runner-up position yet again in Cockermouth when he finished behind the super fast Rally2 Ford Fiesta of Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh.

And while some may get frustrated after three successive second placed finishes, not so Hamill, who is delighted to be competitive on each of his three outings thus far as he eyes up a potential full BTRDA Championship in 2024 after enjoying the mainland stages during last year’s Roger Albert Clark Rally, in which he finished an impressive seventh overall on his debut in the epic five-day event behind the wheel of a Mk II Ford Escort RS 1800.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to be where I was but it was a good rally and another good run,” Hamill acknowledged of his performance in the Lake District.

“It’s three [second places] in a row, but you could be fourth or fifth as quick given the level of competition and you’re only a click of the fingers away from being on your roof, that’s as quick as it can change.

“There was very little between any of the races I was in, just a bit of the rub of the green and I might have done something, but we’ll keep going.

“It was my intention to go after the RAC and seeing the stages over there to do a bit of the BTRDA – to at least do the first round [the Malcolm Wilson Rally] and maybe the second, so that’s what the priority is, to do a few over the water.”

Hamill’s next event will be the 50th anniversary Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages in mid-April after which he will decide if he will continue with the BTRDA series.

“It’s gravel man’s heaven down there so we’re going to go to it and we’ll probably decide after that,” he explained. “I said we’d do the first lock of rounds and we’ll see after that but there’s no point making big plans.

“The thing about championships is you have to finish rallies to be in contention, so we’ll just take it one at a time and if I can keep the wee Polo on the road we’ll see how we go.

“It’s been a promising start and I’m happy.”